The present invention relates generally to truck accessories and, more particularly to a step device for accessing a truck bed.
There are many instances when a person desires or needs to climb up into the bed of a pickup truck, such as to remove cargo from the truck bed, secure an item therein, or simply to sit on the tailgate to rest for a while. Modern pickup trucks, however, are often too high off the ground for a person to step or climb up onto the tailgate easily or quickly. Having to literally climb up into the truck bed is especially inconvenient or even tiring if multiple trips into and out of the bed are necessary, such as when loading or unloading cargo.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for aiding a person to step up onto a truck tailgate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,668 to Debo discloses a tailgate step that may be pulled out directly from the rear of the truck. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,319 to Kirkpatrick et al. is an example of a step that may be swung outwardly from the truck body. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices are not adjustable for use with different sized trucks, are not easily deployable with a single hand pull, or do not retract under their own power.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a step device for accessing a truck bed that is easily deployable with a single hand pull, adjustable for use with trucks of different sizes, and that easily retracts without additional human force.